Connectors are components widely applied to electronic devices such as portable terminals, and the like. Recently, as electronic devices become smaller, connectors have gradually become smaller and thinner. In addition, the higher the density of electronic elements mounted on a circuit board, the greater the number of contacts included in a connector device and the narrower the arrangement pitch between contacts.
Generally, a connector consists of a receptacle connector in which a plurality of receptacle contacts is installed in a receptacle insulator, and a plug connector in which a plurality of plug contacts, contacting the receptacle contacts in a one-to-one manner, is installed in a plug insulator.
The receptacle contacts and the plug contacts are connected to a receptacle-side cable and a plug-side cable, respectively, or are mounted on a circuit board. When a plug is inserted into a receptacle so that the receptacle contacts are brought into contact with the plug contacts, the receptacle-side cable and the plug-side cable or circuits of the circuit boards are electrically connected to each other. Thus, the connector performs data communication with an external device or power is supplied thereto.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an example of a conventional receptacle connector. The receptacle connector illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a contact assembly 10 fabricated such that contacts 11 are formed in an insulator 12 by insertion molding, and a shell 20 covering the insulator 12 and made of a metal material. In the receptacle connector, the contacts 11 are insulated from each other by the insulator 12, are arranged at a constant pitch, and are protected and shielded by the shell 20 covering the insulator 12. In particular, the shell 20 is a main component that considerably affects electrical reliability of the receptacle connector as well as bonding strength thereof for a substrate and matching thereof with the corresponding plug connector.
However, the shell of the conventional receptacle connector is made of a metal material, and thus, when an antenna is installed around the receptacle connector, the antenna cannot properly function. In addition, when an antenna is positioned apart from the receptacle connector to secure antenna performance, the degree of freedom of product design is decreased.